Spark
by Orpah
Summary: In a hidden world of the magical and supernatural, wizards are going missing. Arthur and his companions must track down the powerful characters behind this, and face off with evil itself in a murky gray battlefield. Contains England, Norway, Romania and Poland as main characters so far; will contain quite a few more. AU, pairings possible.
1. Chapter 1

Enjoy.

I decided to write something AU. So, yeah, enjoy, and let me know if anything's seriously out of whack, you know, the usual.

Ari = Iceland

Aage (pronounced sort of like Ah-gee, soft g) = Norway

Arthur = England

Mihai = Romania

Taurys = Lithuania

Feliks = Poland

I don't own Hetalia!end/AN/

Ari had been out late before, but this was an all new level of fatigue; it felt as though his very muscles were being dragged down by some invisible force, and it took a lot of effort just to push the door of the library open and pull his book bag along with him.

It was still a nascent joy, however, that he was out all by himself. Never mind that it was cramming a project on Germany to present tomorrow; freedom was freedom. So he reveled in his, tired body and all.

He stumbled towards his (Aage's) car, thinking of how his elder brother would rip him a new one for being gone so long. It wouldn't matter that it was the university library, and therefore staffed with plenty of security guards; never mind that he was within a hike's distance from his brother's campus home. It seemed that all that mattered to Aage was getting to treat him like a child.

Ari rolled his eyes, and flicked out the car keys. The parking lot was lit up by the glow of the library, and maybe he should have been looking around; in any case, he wasn't.

He slammed into the car, face first, and crunch, pain shocked through his skull as he tried to right himself underneath the weight of an unseen attacker.

"W-What? What- who-? Help! HELP!" In the moments it took to come to those words, his wrists were forced behind him and swiftly bound. His head was slammed into the car again by a large hand, and blood dripped into his open mouth as he tried to scream again.

"Please shut up; no one can hear you anyway." It sounded as though the attacker was mildly annoyed, but his forceful actions seemed to prove otherwise.

Magic! He felt it, all around and very powerful. It didn't stop him from whimpering out, "Stop, just stop, what do you want?"

Ari didn't even have the time to hate himself for sounding so pathetic; a bag went over his head, obscuring his vision and flooding his brain with the smell of used laundry. Then he was pulled, feet scrabbling for some form of balance. "Stop!"

One of the crushing hands released, only to knock him on the head once again. The inside of the bag swam in his vision, and he kicked violently, trying to summon a spell to mind that would help with this situation. He wasn't as proficient as Aage, however, and had only moments before a flattening force settled on his chest and refused to let him breathe properly; his magic was bound.

Gasping and flopping like a fish, he knocked against the inside of a car door, and then a large hand shoved him into the car's backseat. With the slamming of the door, and the starting of the car, Ari's fate was sealed.

He could only pray that Aage would know what to do.

* * *

There were few in the world as secure as Arthur in what they did. He was an unsung hero, really, here to protect the world from things they couldn't perceive. He sought out danger and lived to tell the tale. He was also modest about it. Hence the 'unsung' in 'unsung hero.'

Arthur was dealing with one such danger right now; a Mihai Popescu, or so he said his name was. It was probably really some dark secret lost to time.

The Romanian was cheerily chattering away about a medical video he'd seen where the doctor had drilled into a skull. Apparently, he was fascinated by blood and gore; it wasn't really a surprise to Arthur, considering what the little monster was. "I think one of the other people almost fainted, but really, it's amazing how we can do all these things to people's bodies and it heals them! It used to be that we drilled into skulls and people just died. Weird, huh?"

"Yes, very." Arthur didn't feel bad about targeting this one; he clearly was a bit freaky anyway. "So, how did you see this video…?"

"Oh, I snuck into a class. I guess you can find this stuff online if you want to, though." Mihai grinned at him, snaggletooth sticking out jaggedly. It was as though he thought he'd met someone he could get along well with.

Or would be an easy target. Arthur smirked inwardly, because the prey thought it was the predator. "I see… Do you sneak into classes often?" All he needed to do was keep him talking, and follow him into whatever discreet place he was going to lead him to.

"Yeah… I'd attend them as a student if I could, though. I've got a stomach for gore, and I'd be good at being a nurse or something… Oh, hey, you know what? I've got some of those videos on dvd back in my hotel room; would you like to see them?" Mihai was apparently of the mind that Arthur liked the things he liked. And since Arthur had been nodding and being encouraging the whole time he described a dead deer he'd seen on the side of the road, Arthur couldn't entirely blame him for being so gullible.

"I would love that," he said emphatically, glad to have such a streak of luck. This one had been easy to spot, easy to get into a conversation, and now he would be easy to take out. There hadn't even been any alcohol involved yet.

Mihai smiled again, grabbing the crook of Arthur's arm in a rather familiar manner, and leading him towards a shabby motel hardly a hundred feet away. Again, could this day get much better?

Arthur followed, pretending to be as gullible as Mihai was. Really, how had Mihai survived for so long? He clearly wasn't turned yesterday, so maybe he was just good or lucky at finding people that were stupid.

The walked up the steps, Mihai's grip slipping off of Arthur. He drew out a card key, sliding it in the door, before swinging it open. "I've got one that shows this guy getting a javelin removed from his shoulder. It's really cool, the techniques they use to get it free without killing him! Most people would probably just rip it out, and boom, he'd be dead."

Arthur nodded, giving him a false smile. Only moments more, he reasoned, as they slipped into the room.

Mihai smiled at him, then turned his back, digging in his suitcase. "Well, would you look at that, I left them at home- Aaaagh! What are you doing?"

Arthur had tackled him, and with expertise of a hundred such operations, had pinned Mihai's arms with his legs, digging his knees in and sitting on his chest.

Wheezing, Mihai was trying to gasp something out, but what most came across was the terrified, dumb expression on his face. He hadn't seen it coming, and that gave Arthur satisfaction.

He pulled his stake out of his coat, ignoring the rush of whispery protest from Mihai, and positioning it over where his heart was. "Thought you were getting a meal, didn't you, vampire?" Arthur couldn't help but smirk. "Well, this is the end of the line for you. Goodbye."

Arthur started to lean on it, sinking it into the chest, and hearing the cracking of bones; a blinding pain suddenly attacked the right side of his head, as he went flying. His vision was a crackling blaze of stars, which turned to black, but not before he thought, _Two of them_… _I'm a goner._

* * *

"…coming awake now. See, both his eyes are blinking…"

"I know."

Arthur slowly came to, hearing first Mihai's voice, and then an unknown. He'd almost forgotten where he was, but the four walls of the motel room came into sharp focus. He looked around dazedly, finally settling on a blonde seated across from him. The other vampire. He tried to stand up, only to find he was bound into the chair. He gave a sigh; the game was up. "Just do it already."

The blonde one raised an eyebrow. "Do what?"

They really were cruel; not only hadn't they given him the mercy of killing him while he was asleep, they were going to play mind games with him. "Suck my blood and kill me, of course. What else would you do?"

Mihai, who turned out to be sauntering around behind the blonde one, barked out a laugh. "Well, you heard him, Aage, we'd better enjoy him while he's here."

The blonde one, Aage, didn't seem to find it funny, if his lack of facial expression was any clue. "We're not here to suck your blood; I am not a vampire."

Oh wonderful, they were going to go into serious mind games! Arthur cursed inwardly, struggling against the rope. "Oh? If you're not going to harm me, why would you lure me here and tie me up in your room? If you don't mind my asking…"

"I need your help." Aage was straight to the point, if it was the truth.

This surprised Arthur. His help? He rarely got asked for anything; most people didn't know the nature of his work, much less his abilities. This man obviously knew something about him and his hidden career. "My help with what? And why- _how_ did you use a vampire to lure me here?"

Vampires weren't trustworthy creatures; they were bloodthirsty, not capable of caring for humans in a way other than as a snack. Every last one he'd met had shamelessly lured undeserving humans to their deaths.

Aage waved off the question, impatiently saying, "Consider him housebroken."

Mihai only leaned on the back of Aage's chair, watching the proceedings with interest.

"But you work with a _vampire_?" Arthur couldn't get off of this fact. Vampires couldn't be 'housebroken,' _he'd_ never been able to tame one.

Aage gave an annoyed 'tch,' before finally saying, "With enough patience and stiff training, anything can be fixed, even a vampire. Don't tell me you've gone about just killing every dangerous creature you come across? No, don't answer that."

Arthur felt a little chagrined, because he pretty much had, and Aage clearly knew that.

"I've got a more important matter than your methods," Aage continued, seeming to be at least less stiff now that they were on to the topic he wanted to be on. "Many wizards, such as me and yourself, have been going missing. The disappearance sites have been practically glowing with magic themselves, and I can't help but suspect a powerful wizards- or group of wizards- is involved. In any case, I can't take them on alone."

"Wait, missing? Like they're just gone, poof, or was there a struggle? How do you know this is true? Most wizards don't keep in contact with others." Arthur was a little skeptical; he still felt like he was being tricked.

Mihai cut in, saying, "I can smell more than one magic-user in the places that the wizards disappeared. Something went down, because there was a huge amount of magic used."

Aage continued on that train of thought. "I know one of the wizards, and I've been able to hunt out traces of the others. How do you think I found you?"

It was a good point, and Arthur had to concede. "But why me? How do you think I'd help?"

Simply shrugging, Aage said, "The more firepower we have, the better chance we have of winning. So, are you coming with us or not?"

Arthur had to consider, looking over at Mihai, who was absently rubbing the bloody spot on his shirt where Arthur had tried to drive a stake into him.

The vampire noticed, and gave him an antisocial look, shoulders hunching forward a bit.

"I suppose so." Arthur just nodded. He'd wanted to do something big in the magic world, hadn't he? And what better way to put his skills to use? It really wasn't all that great hunting down random monsters in the streets.

Aage nodded back, but added, "Don't try to kill Mihai again; I wouldn't appreciate it."

"Yeah, sure." Arthur still couldn't see how Aage could trust that thing; he must have put some sort of hex on him to believe he would follow his orders so well.

"Then we're settled." Aage snapped his fingers, and the bindings released Arthur. "We'll set out again in an hour; you'd better pack light."

Arthur disappeared out the doorway with a nod. Here he was, about to go off on an adventure. At least he would have tales to tell that charming kid next door…

* * *

Feliks stumbled through the street, forlornly looking around. He could feel the blood building up to boiling point in his veins; he was sure he would go mad at any moment.

He had to find Taurys, or else bad things would happen.

The people were smelling more and more nice, the waft of hot dogs less and less. Feliks clutched his coat to himself, muttering and trying to focus on something, anything other than the threatening change in his body.

His skin was hot, he could feel it; he skirted around another lady, eyes straining to find the white car.

Taurys simply must be found; the alternative was too horrible to think.

/AN/ I hope you enjoyed this! I want to be a fantasy writer, can you tell?


	2. Chapter 2

Well, here's the next bit! I hope you guys enjoy it!

Sadiq = Turkey

Gupta = Egypt

Roderich = Austria

I don't own Hetalia!end/AN/

Apparently, they were going on a faint tracking spell Aage had placed on one of the wizards, and Mihai's nose.

And it wasn't a bad plan, Arthur supposed; vampires did have keen senses.

"They were here. A whole bunch of them, Ari, the man, the woman… I don't smell blood." Mihai looked to Aage, waiting for an answer, or possibly approval. Arthur couldn't tell, but he had to admit that Mihai had more guile than he'd given him credit for; obviously he'd pulled the wool over Aage's eyes somehow.

Aage just nodded. "Good. I doubt he's been harmed further, then." The empty warehouse seemed to absorb his words, losing them in its wide floor and high ceiling. He stalked further a bit, examining the dust and dirt beneath his feet.

Arthur felt a little useless, though he would never admit it. He wasn't gifted in tracking the way the other two were; he had no amazing sense of smell, no talent with tagging and following people. "There were two? They're wizards, aren't they?"

"Yeah, they smell strongly of dark magic." Mihai put in, not realizing he wasn't the one that Arthur wanted to talk to.

"Hm. I see. Aage, do you know where we need to head next?" Arthur dismissed Mihai, focusing his green stare on Aage. He was the brains of the operation, after all.

"I'll check." Aage laid out his materials, conjuring up a hazy vision in his ball. The thing about the tracking spell he'd used was that it wasn't an instant thing; the wizard they were looking for, Ari, could have been at the spot they were being shown hours ago. It was why Arthur preferred a GPS.

He would have preferred that they would use his car more often too; Aage seemed to insist on a lot of hiking so that Mihai could pick up the scent. Said vampire had faded to the shadows, seeming to scowl at the small amount of sunlight streaming through the windows of the warehouse.

"A bridge, several kilometers north of here. They stopped there; I'm not sure why." Aage packed away his things, and then handed off the bag to Mihai. He looked over at Arthur, nodding and saying, "Let's go."

There was never much discussion with Aage; he was very focused on his mission. Arthur wasn't an incredibly talkative person, but he almost missed there being some inane chatter. "All right."

The car ride was quiet, until Mihai turned on the radio. Pop music came blasting through, this particular song being about a relationship that went sour. But weren't all these teen-catering ballads always about relationships that the listeners were too young to have anyway?

"Turn it off," Arthur groused, picking the lint off of his sweater-vest. Why he was sitting in the back seat and the vampire got shotgun, he wasn't sure.

But Mihai turned his face back, stuck his tongue out lightning quick, and then faced front again.

"Please don't be rude," Aage said, but his voice was bored, as though he didn't really care. He was sort of the master of rude, in Arthur's opinion. Kidnapping someone was a pretty impolite gesture; yet, he was still more likeable than Mihai.

Mihai's face turned back towards Arthur again, and he was still scowling. "I'm not turning off my music; just because you both are old fusspots doesn't mean I am too."

"Fusspots!" Insolent little-! Arthur wanted to pull that ridiculous hat off of his head and throw it out the window. "I am not a fusspot, I just happen to have taste! None of the new singers are as good as the old ones, for your information."

"That's what every previous generation says," Mihai insisted, turning up the music louder.

Unfortunately, it didn't seem to bother Aage at all; he must have already gone partly deaf from this sort of behavior. He kept almost placidly driving, turning smoothly from lane to lane and coming to gentle stops at stop signs.

Arthur, however, was furious. He was about to do something nasty, like magick the twat's eyes shut, or make him vomit, but he was interrupted.

"We're here." Aage pulled off to the side of the road, and ahead, Arthur could make out the bridge.

The radio turned off, but the tension hardly died with it. Mihai got out, pulling up the hood on his jacket; the sun was still a damaging force for a vampire. It didn't kill instantly, but continued exposure could wreak havoc with a vampire's systems the way almost nothing else seemed to be able to.

Arthur got out on the same side, and swiftly walked around Mihai to catch up with Aage.

The blonde had already made it to the bridge, and was peering around. He looked over his shoulder, but his eyes went past Arthur to call to Mihai. "Come here and see if they're still all together."

Mihai bounded up, and took a deep inhale. His face suddenly seemed pinched, and he murmured, "You're not going to like this…"

But Aage was ignoring him, staring at a spot blocked by Mihai.

Arthur caught up then. "What could have happened that's so… Oh. Shit." If there was something commonplace that Arthur had learned to recognize over the years, it was what that large stain, reddish brown and spread near the support of the bridge, was.

"Did he die here?" Aage's voice was quiet, and oddly flat. His face was unreadable, but Arthur suddenly realized he must have known this Ari just a little better than as an acquaintance.

Mihai still looked like he'd tried to swallow sandpaper. "I don't think so; not much… blood."

Wait a moment… Arthur could suddenly discern the look of want in Mihai's eyes, as they darted around suspiciously. He was waiting for the moment to attack, and any moment, he was sure to start drooling. Arthur wouldn't be surprised if he started to lick the pavement. "Hey, don't even think about it!"

It seemed Mihai knew instantly what he was talking about, because he defensively snapped, "I'm not thinking about it! Shut up!"

Aage turned back to them then, saying, "We don't have much time, if they're being this brutal. Please stop fighting and let me focus." He set up his things, ignoring the cars going past. Apparently, the urgency of the situation made him brazen in his magic use.

Mihai stood between him and traffic, almost like a sentinel. It was a little silly, really; a vampire could take far more damage than a human could, but it wasn't as though he could stop an oncoming car.

Shuffling around, Arthur got a better look at the place; there was a lot of graffiti, including what appeared to be a crude drawing of a woman's breasts. Strangely enough, some of it looked familiar to Arthur; it was as though he had seen the red, bold markings before.

"Nothing." Aage's voice was quiet, but there was an undertone of… was it anger? It was hard to tell with him.

"What do you mean nothing? What strength tracking spell did you use?" Arthur strode over to where Aage was packing up his things and pressing his lips together tightly.

The wizard shook his head, murmuring, "Low strength; I only wanted to keep an eye on him. But it's gone; I'm not getting anything at all." He turned to Mihai. "Can you tell anything about them that could tell us where they went?"

Mihai seemed to concentrate, taking in the smells again. "I don't know… I can smell sweat, and the blood; that's Ari. The woman smells of dust, and old paper; I think she had a tome with her. And the man smells like… more blood, different blood. He carries a scent of death with him…"

"Well, that's helpful," Arthur scoffed, impatient with the vampire.

Eyes opening, Mihai glared at Arthur. "I'm doing my best; I don't see you doing anything useful."

That bastard! Arthur felt his temper rise. "I think you're too busy lusting after the blood to be the slightest bit accurate or useful!"

"That's enough. This isn't helping anyone." Aage began to walk back to the car, apparently intent on driving around aimlessly with no leads. And here Arthur had thought he was the smart one…

"Where are we going?" Mihai followed, head cocked to the side.

"We're going on a visit. If we can't track, then we're going to have to find their friends." The slightest glint was in Aage's eyes, and Arthur had a feeling this wasn't going to be a friendly visit.

* * *

It seemed there was something very interesting about Aage; he could track down almost any wizard, besides the ones who were missing. Arthur suspected it had to do with cloaking spells cast by the kidnappers.

In any case, here they were, in the home of one Gupta Muhammad Hassan. The darker skinned man looked back at passively, not a word being uttered. He hadn't said anything when they came to his home either, just let them in soundlessly. So Arthur was startled when he shook a large bell.

"What is it, Gupta? If it's just the tv remote again, I told you, we're out of batteries… Oh. Hello." A large man had come into the room, tan as Gupta was but far burlier. He looked at Arthur and Aage with something in his eyes that looked to be a cross between curiousity and suspicion.

Arthur was just glad Mihai wasn't here; the vampire was waiting in the car on Aage's suggestion. There was no doubt, if one of these two was the wizard, they would pick up on the vibe coming from him instantly.

Aage spoke, saying, "Hello. I'm afraid we're here on business and we don't have time for pleasantries, so I'm going to get right down to it." Well, again, Aage had proved he was rude. "We're looking for a pair, maybe more, of powerful wizards, a woman and man, who dabble in black magic. Have you heard of them?"

Gupta looked thoughtful, then dug around his pockets, which were very large. He produced a pad of paper, and scribbled something out. He turned the pad to show Arthur and Aage. _3. Bad News. Why?_

"Three of them? That is bad news." It was rare for wizards to clump together, and when they did, it was more typically in pairs. Arthur couldn't help but point out the obvious.

"It seems they're kidnapping wizards; we don't know why. You might want to watch yourself." Aage was matter-of-fact, as always.

The large man spoke up then. "Someone's comin' after you? Like hell they're gettin' past me." His eyes flashed over to Gupta, then back at Aage.

Gupta gave what appeared to be sigh, but it was almost silent. He tapped the other man on the side, then his hands went through a number of signs; sign language, of course.

Arthur knew a little British Sign Language, but this was obviously a completely different language, if it wasn't entirely invented by Gupta. He stood there awkwardly, before saying, "Are you both wizards?"

The man shook his head, after having taken in all that Gupta had to say. "Nope. I'm Sadiq Adnan; we're roommates. Been roommates since college; you know he has a degree in, what was it, Ancient Languages? I forget the title… But anyway, I've stuck around, especially since he got cursed."

Gupta gave him a sharp jab, and Sadiq rolled his eyes. "Excuse me, princess. Gupta says he'll be fine; also, you'll want to look out for those three. We don't know their names, but they're a rotten bunch. I think they're cousins, since they're all blonde."

"Do you know where we can find them?" Aage said it before Arthur could. His eyes were a bit dull, like he couldn't care less about who Sadiq was and the fact that Gupta had a degree and was cursed.

"Eh, no. We try to avoid nasty types like them. But they seem to hang around downtown, if that helps." Sadiq shrugged, probably trying to help but not having much to offer.

Arthur nodded, as Aage turned to leave. "Thank you. Keep an eye out; you can call me at this number if something does happen." He scribbled his number on Gupta's pad of paper, and handed it back to him.

Gupta nodded, while Sadiq waved. "Yeah, we will. Don't hold your breath, though."

The door shut behind the Arthur, and he turned to look for Aage. The wizard had made it to the car before him, but instead of getting in, and he was looking around. "Mihai?"

Arthur groaned, able to see from where he was that the car was empty. "Oh great, did he wander off to get a snack? I knew we shouldn't have left him alone; you can never trust a vampire, I'm telling you-"

"Stop. There's blood." Aage seemed distinctly agitated, over on the shotgun side and examining the window.

Stopping, Arthur saw that the glass had clearly been smashed through; but it wasn't with a gun. They would have heard that, wouldn't they? It looked like there had been a bit of a struggle, and suddenly he wondered how much they didn't hear, and just who had happened upon Mihai smugly listening to the radio in the car.

"We have to find him. Come on, get in the back seat," Aage urged, brushing the glass off of the front seat and sliding in.

"How on earth would we find him? You don't even know why he's gone," Arthur insisted, but he got in the back seat. He may not have been eager to find Mihai, but he did genuinely want to get along with Aage, however rude he was.

"Tracking spell; it's a much stronger one than I put on Ari." Aage started up the car, and slowly took off into the street.

"But what about Ari? And the others they've taken?" Arthur couldn't believe they were abandoning that search for a vampire.

Aage didn't look back. "We need his nose; we'll never find them on our own. Their cloaking is too strong."

Arthur sighed in the back seat. It looked like they were going on a detour for the sake of a crummy vampire. Joy.

* * *

Feliks shivered, but not from cold. No, he was afraid, hunkered down against a building and praying that somehow everything would turn out all right.

He'd managed to get himself a cup of warm tea; not his favorite, but it was soothing, and he tried to sip from it with shaking hands. He had to get somewhere besides here, but where? Where did Taurys go? He had promised he wouldn't leave him.

Biting his lip, Feliks tried not to think about it. He had to put that behind him, and find another wizard, someone with the same skills as Taurys.

"Excuse me? Are you all right?" A pale man with glasses looked down at Feliks, and he was holding an umbrella tightly.

"No… no, I'm not all right. But you can't help," Feliks explained, crossing his arms and sighing. Was there anyone with the ability to help him?

The man sighed. "My name is Roderich Edelstein, and my wife knows things about… the supernatural. She spotted you earlier today, and told me to come find you. She can help."

It was too good to be true, wasn't it? But wasn't this exactly what he had prayed for? God answered people's prayers sometimes, with exactly what they needed. Feliks decided he would trust Roderich Edelstein. "Really? She'll help me? Does she know what's wrong with me?"

"Of course. If you'll come with me, we'll get you fed and taken care of," Roderich said, holding out his hand.

It was a big gesture to someone like Feliks, and he took the hand reverently. Everything was going to be all right; he only had to trust…

/AN/Well, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I'm still hashing things out, but I intend to make this story fairly entertaining! Also, is there anything in particular anyone would like to see? The plots still a little fluid, so particular characters or roles are still tba in many cases.


	3. Chapter 3

Sorry this took me so long! I hope you enjoy this chapter despite its lateness.

Erszebet = Hungary

I don't own Hetalia! end/AN/

Feliks watched Roderich as he carefully handed him a glass of water.

"It's important to be hydrated," the man said with a murmur. Then he disappeared through an archway deeper into the house.

The churning in Feliks' gut wouldn't let him appreciate how warm the blanket was, nor how pretty the house was. It was tastefully decorated, with antique furniture and old portraits on the walls. The wallpaper had green ribbons running through it, and if Feliks took a whiff through his nose, there was the heavy scent of lavender and salt.

It was a tall house, from the outside, and though this room was small, Felix was sure he had glimpsed high ceilings.

He wished that Roderich would get his wife here and save him soon. She seemed like a good person, an angel, a saint, for daring to help him.

"Hello, I'm Erszebet." She _was_ an angel, Feliks decided. Erszebet stood over him, long brown hair pulled back into a ponytail and leather coat unzipped to reveal a pretty white blouse.

"Feliks. You said you could help me?" Feliks was desperate, ready to do anything this woman told him as his arteries felt as though they would burst with the pressure building in his body.

"Yes," she smiled, "Come with me."

* * *

Arthur grumbled to himself as the car rumbled along, wind whipping through the broken window.

Aage hadn't spoken a word, instead choosing to focus on the road. Even when Arthur had asked how long this was going to take, he'd barely murmured a vague 'a little bit' back.

Nothing was quite going the way Arthur had hoped it would. Not only was that vampire proving to be a pain, but Aage was practically ignoring him. And he wasn't some teenage girl desperate for attention, but…

Arthur didn't have many friends. More correctly, he had a teenage kid named Alfred next door who he sometimes helped out with Boy Scout projects and homework, and siblings who he didn't talk to. His mum had passed at an early age (for a mum), and he didn't have a father that he knew about.

He'd been alone, mostly, except for the occasional friendly sprite and the unicorn he had once befriended, only to watch it die a slow, whimpering death in his backyard, hidden from the sight of normal people.

So, the point was, he'd hoped to find a kindred spirit. He'd hoped for too much, he knew.

Aage mechanically turned the wheel, making a turn in a smooth curve. His blonde hair seemed to hang a bit in his eyes, but he barely bothered to blink it out.

Arthur gave a sigh, from his spot in the backseat. Aage had insisted on no one sitting in the passenger seat up front until they had vacuumed the glass off. It felt strangely disconnecting to be here, watching the back of Aage's head and occasionally seeing the side of his face as he looked to turn.

A sprite seemed to zoom past the window, and Arthur briefly wondered if they were entering a magical neighborhood. But then it was gone, and Aage was stopping the car.

"He's ahead a couple of houses," Aage said as he slipped out of the front seat, slamming the door shut behind him gently. The breeze was sending a few leaves twirling about them like particularly lazy birds, and Arthur was sure there must be more sprites about.

But now was unfortunately not the time to pursue his more favorite part of his job. "Why are we stopping here? I'm telling you, he's run off to feast. The sooner we get there to stop him, the better."

"We must sneak up," Aage said, his tone sounding flatly annoyed. He headed towards the house, which was three-storied.

And Arthur would have followed him; but just then, a dark figure came flying up the path, colliding with Aage. It was not an innocent blunder, Arthur sensed it immediately, and tried to grab the mysterious woman.

"_Keep your nose clean, Landvik_," the figure hissed, suddenly stamping her palm against Aage's forehead and sending him stumbling backwards.

Arthur only narrowly caught him, having to let the woman disappear down around the corner in favor Aage not cutting his head on the sidewalk.

As Aage turned to face him, the fellow wizard demanded, "What did she put on my forehead? A curse? A jinx? A tracking charm?"

It was a red ring, but it was swiftly changing into a complicated pattern of loops and sharp corners. Arthur instantly recognized it, and his stomach plummeted. "It's a changing curse. It looks like, well, I hate to say this, but it's a ghoul one."

A changing curse worked slowly; basically, once it was imprinted on a person, they slowly changed into whatever it was the curse entailed. In this case, a ghoul, a malevolent spirit that fed on corpses. It had little mind for anything other than feeding on the dead, and was known to haunt graveyards obsessively. Arthur had dispersed several in his time, and he knew them best for the creepy, deathlike chill they put over people who came near them.

Aage didn't look alarmed. "Then we'll have to force her to remove it; I sensed, Arthur, that she was a wizard, one of the ones we traced today."

"Then we have to chase her!" Arthur turned around abruptly to run where she had gone. Aage caught his shoulder.

"She's gone; she teleported." He turned back towards the house, stating, "We must rescue Mihai."

Teleportation was a single person affair; there was little a person could take with them, barely the clothes on their back. And it left no trace as to where the person had gone. Arthur wished he had the tracking senses of Aage; he would have known instantly what she was and where she had gone as well.

But anger was back in his chest at Mihai. This was the vampire's fault too! He was going to tear that fool limb from limb!

Aage ambled ahead, seeming to take little care to conceal himself. Arthur worried that the shock had set in, that Aage was terrified of what he was going to become. He tried to speak up and help. "Look, we'll leave Mihai and find someone who can remove it. Then we can come find him again later." _Or better yet, not come back for him at all_.

Turning around, Aage gave Arthur a bemused glance. "No. This is more important. This changing curse will take some time to have any effect, anyway."

Was Aage stupid? Did he know how hard it was to find someone who could remove a curse that was not their own, especially something like this? Arthur found himself glaring at Aage. "But it will take forever to find the right wizard! Do you _want_ to be a ghoul?!"

Aage set his mouth into a thin line, and turned back towards the house. "I'm going to get Mihai. If you don't want to come with me, you can go home."

Arthur stared at him, flabbergasted. Go home? As if that was even an option in a crisis like this! He grumbled under his breath, and grudgingly followed after Aage. It seemed his fellow wizard was so much less than reasonable after all.

* * *

Ari slowly opened his eyes, only to find himself staring at the cement ceiling of some unknown place. He tried to turn his head, only to find it was quite firmly strapped into place. He could make out some of the place; there were many symbols all over the wall, including many he didn't recognize at all. They were magic, though, there was no doubt about that.

He caught movement at the edge of his vision, and strained to look. A figure carried another one slumped over its shoulder, which quickly rolled out of his vision as it put the slumped figure down.

Murmurings were reaching his ears like buzzing; his head felt like a motorcycle had run it over. He couldn't quite make out the noises. He got the sudden urge to vomit, and cried out, terrified he was going to drown in his own puke.

"The little one's awake," came a feminine voice, and a face appeared over his. She was older than him, he thought, and her hair was hidden by a hood.

"I'm going to hurl," he whimpered, pushing against the head strap- and the other straps he found himself held down with.

A cool hand laid on his forehead. Soft words came out of the woman's mouth, and he found his nausea subsiding.

"Why am I here? Where am I?" Ari was terrified, for lack of a better word. Even if this woman seemed nice enough, she was holding him here against his will.

"Shhh, go to sleep," she said, eyes blinking slowly and turning almost hypnotizing. Were they brown or blue or green?

He felt a haze go over him; she was putting him to sleep! He fought against it, struggling against the straps again and begging her to stop. But pretty soon, he found himself only narrowly awake.

A hyper, perky little voice spoke up in the background, but he couldn't even make out what she was saying. Was it a different someone? Was this a dream?

The dark room faded into gray sleep…

* * *

The backyard gate had been unlocked, so Aage and Arthur had snuck in through there. The sliding glass door also led was unlocked, and Aage slid it open silently.

It looked like a normal house. A picture of a woman and man hung in the room, which was filled with a table and four chairs, and connected to a tidy kitchen. A white coffee maker sat out, slowly brewing the coffee and letting an aromatic scent into the air.

Arthur was beginning to think they must have simply walked into the wrong place. "Aage, we shouldn't be here; this obviously isn't the place."

"Sh." Aage said shortly, as he crept along quietly. He seemed to have honed in on a door leading into the next room, and murmured to Arthur, "Be ready to fight."

Arthur's palms got a little sweaty. What were they going up against? Did Aage even know? What if it was a whole coven of vampires? The man was crazy!

And Arthur would have told him so, but the door swung open, and Aage dashed inside. Arthur followed, and was shocked by what he saw.

The room was high-ceilinged, and on every wall hung weapons. From guns to picks to huge wooden stakes and chains, everything a torturer could use was here.

But more importantly, in the middle of the room, hanging by his feet and dried blood caking his half-naked body, was Mihai. A bright light was turned on him, and his eyes were closed as he hung limply.

"Mihai! Wake up!" Aage slapped him across the face, trying next to try and free him from the chain bound around his ankles.

Mihai let out a feeble moan, struggling for a moment against his bonds.

Arthur knew that he had to do something; if whatever had caught Mihai came back, they could be in for it. "Catch him," he said, and shot the chain inches from Mihai's feet with a well-placed blast.

Mihai slumped against the ground, narrowly missing hitting his head thanks to Aage.

Aage quickly freed Mihai from his bonds, but the vampire still didn't move. "Wake up, you can't go to sleep!"

There wasn't a lot that Arthur knew about the physiology of vampires, but he figured that in this instance, going to sleep might mean going to sleep forever. He sighed and came over to Aage's side. "What does he need?"

"Turn off the light," Aage, seeming to suddenly realize that it must be a sun-imitating light.

Arthur did it. "Will he get up now?" They needed to get out of here!

"No. Help me carry him," Aage said, wrapping Mihai in his jacket, taking care to pull the hood down far over his face.

They didn't have time for this! But Arthur grabbed Mihai's feet, lifting and hoping to get the hell out of there and fast. They just had to get out the door and through the backyard before-

"Excuse me, but what the hell are you doing _rescuing_ that vampire scum?!"

Oh shit.

/AN/ I know it took forever to update, but I just wanted to after I got a review recently. Cause I still like this story, you know?


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